REVISION
ENGLISH IS BECOMING A WORLD LANGUAGE. IS THIS GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE, OR CAN IT CAUSE PROBLEMS?
TEXT
«NO GETTING AROUND IT: ENGLISH IS GLOBAL TONGUE»
Most of us feel that our own language is an essential part of our national identity, yet at the same time we realize that we need a world language, a sort of lingua franca.
Over the centuries, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Malay, Swahili and other languages have been used as international instruments for trade, diplomacy, or religion. Many of them are still used in that capacity.
But three new elements have complicated the situation. The first is the rise of English to the position of world language. This makes life easier for many people but others envy. Many speakers of less widespread languages feel threatened by English. It is like sleeping next to an elephant; the size of the animal means danger.
Speakers of minority languages do their best to keep their cultural identity. According to Michael Krauss of the Alaska Native Language Center, nine out of ten of the 6,000 languages in the world will die out within the next century. This is the second new element in the linguistic situation. The third, more dangerous novelty is the modern refusal to accept multilingualism. Why shouldn’t a Corsican use Corsican in some cases and French in others? Indeed, why should a Frenchman feel ashamed using English to sell Camembert to a Japanese?
Nowadays, linguistic rivalry is the third most common cause of conflict, after race and religion, and is often mixed with the others, too. It need not be so. Everyone is right in trying to preserve his or her local language. But this shouldn’t exclude the rest of the languages. Speakers of minor languages will also have to learn a major language to profit from the expanding world economy.
«International Herald Tribune»
NOTES:
1. get around sth - avoid sth (a problem, the truth, etc.)
No getting around it. = We can’t avoid the fact.
2. identity - the unique character of a person/country. Индивидуальность, самобытность.
3. lingua franca (Lat.) - a language used by different nationalities to speak to each other – «лингва франка» – язык, используемый для общения людьми, говорящими на разных языках.
4. minority - a small number of people, Ant. majority
5. novelty - a new element
6. multilingualism - use of two or more languages
7. rivalry - competition
8. expanding - growing, increasing
EXERCISES
COMPREHENSION
Ex. 1. Look through the text and say if these statements are true or false (according to the author of the article).
1. Most people are happy to give up their own language and learn a world language.
2. Latin used to be a lingua franca.
3. Everybody is pleased about the rise of English.
4. If your language dies out, you lose an important part of your culture.
5. Multilingualism is a dangerous thing.
6. Learning languages can help you in the modern world.
Ex. 2. Pairwork.
In some countries people are getting angry about the use of English words in their own language. For example, not everybody likes фаст фуд, хот дог, провайдер in Russian. How do you feel about this? Does it matter? Can it be stopped?
Discuss in pairs and tell the class about the conclusion you have come to. The following phrases can be useful.
Expressing Personal Opinion
Formal / Less formal and informalI’d like to point out
The way I see it/As I see it
As far as I am concerned
In my view
In my opinion / I believe If you ask me
It seems to me I think
To my mind I guess
I reckon (BrE)
KEY STRUCTURES AND WORD STUDY
Ex. 3. Find words in the text similar in meaning to the following.
a world language, an important thing to understand, for many years, to make something more difficult, to feel frightened, to disappear, a new thing, to feel disgraced, to keep unchanged.
Ex. 4. (A) Study the model and translate the following sentences into Russian.
Model: four hundred / thousand / million cars
dozens / hundreds / thousands / millions of cars.
1. Their country house cost them thousands of dollars.
2. Mr Baron was paid three thousand pounds.
3. I want to live for a hundred years.
4. Twenty thousand pounds (it) was stolen in the robbery.
5. There were thousands of people at the concert.
6. I’ve been there hundreds of times.
7. I’ve got thousands of things to do.
8. We’re giving you ten thousand dollars for this car, isn’t it enough?
9. They’ve been here for hundreds of years.
10. There were about a/one hundred people in the room.
11. This vase is worth six thousand roubles.
12. He is a hundred (years old) today.
13. I could give you several hundred reasons for not going there.
14. I’ve said it a thousand times.
15. This academic year we are to read dozens of books.
(B) Translate into English using the patterns above.
1. Ежегодно тысячи москвичей (Moscovites) покупают новые квартиры.
2. В Москве более десяти миллионов жителей.
3. Сотни людей ездят на работу в центр города, а вечером возвращаются домой на окраины.
4. В выходные дни столица пустеет. Тысячи москвичей выезжают за город.
5. Сотни молодых людей стараются поступить в наш университет, чтобы стать журналистами, дипломатами, специалистами в области международной экономики.
6. Ежегодно в мире выпускаются миллионы компьютеров.
Ex. 5. Fill in the blanks with «it» or «there».
1. We can’t go skiing. ____ isn’t any snow.
2. _____was a storm last night. Did you hear it?
3. ______’s a long way from here to the nearest shop.
4. ______’s no water on the moon.
5. I’m afraid _____ ’s time to see Granny.
6. «What’s that noise?» ______’s the wind.
7. ______’s nice to see you.
8. ______’s a bus at the bus stop. ______’s full.
9. ______’s a good film at the cinema. ______’s a Western.
10. ______’s a funny smell in the kitchen.
11. ______’s some soup, if you are hungry.
12. ______’s somebody on the phone for you.
13. ______’s too late to go out.
14. ______’s hard to understand him.
Ex. 6. Put in enough, in, it, on, there, too.
«Not only for birds»
______is an island 1,300 miles southwest of Tokyo. ______belongs to Japan and is called Okinorishima, or «Offshore Bird Island». People don’t live _____ this island because ______is often under the sea. In 1988 the Japanese government sent 17 ships and 200 workers to Okinorishima. They ‘built up’ the island with 9,000 steel blocks. This cost $225 million. Was this ______much money to spend? The island is ____small to live on but big ____ to give Japan fishing rights to 163,000 square miles ___ the Pacific ocean.
Ex. 7. (A) Complete the following using much, many, little, few, a lot of.
1. ______people go to the Atlantic for a holiday.
2. There is _____ furniture in the room, only the most necessary pieces.
3. Please, don’t make so _____ noise.
4. There isn’t _____ sugar left, go and buy some.
5. How _____ rooms are there in your country house?
6. Max made ______mistakes and passed the examination well.
7. We haven’t got ______potatoes.
8. I’ve read ______books by Hailey.
9. Hurry up, we have ______time left.
10. ______people enjoy walking in rainy weather.
11. ______famous English writers described country life.
12. I’ve got ______work to do.
13. Her parties are always boring, that’s why ______people come to them.
B. Translate into English.
1. Мало кто знает о детстве этого музыканта.
2. Нам известно очень немногое о жизни этого человека.
3. Многие певцы стремятся (хотят) учиться в Италии.
4. У нас осталось мало молока, пойди купи еще.
5. Немногие любят купаться в холодную погоду.
6. Было много сказано о наших достижениях, теперь давайте поговорим о наших проблемах.
7. Многие люди предпочитают отдыхать в Испании.
8. В этом кофе слишком много сахара.
Ex. 8. Complete the following using few, little, a few, a little.
1. I’ve got ______Spanish books, but not many.
2. Please, give me ______water, I’m thirsty.
3. I have ______pictures at home, but they are all very good.
4. I’m afraid there is too ______cheese and bread. There will be a lot of people at the party.
5. We have ______milk. We can go shopping tomorrow.
6. There were not many people at the bus stop at that hour, only ______.
7. I know very ______about this writer, better ask somebody else.
8. Unfortunately there are ______books on this problem in our library,
you will have to turn to a specialized library.
Ex. 9. Translate into English using few, little, a few, a little.
1. У меня очень мало книг по этому вопросу, но я советую тебе просмотреть книгу этого автора.
2. Боюсь у нас слишком мало денег, чтобы купить такой дом.
3. У меня мало времени, но я могу немного рассказать тебе о наших планах.
4. Позвольте мне сказать несколько слов о результатах экзаменов.
5. В этом городе очень немного людей ходит на концерты классической музыки.
6. В этом году у нас мало времени на обсуждение подобных вопросов в аудитории.
7. Очень мало студентов интересуется этой проблемой.
8. Он привел несколько примеров использования этого прибора.
(the use of this machine)
Ex. 10. Put in too or either.
We use too and either at the end of the sentence.
We use too after a positive verb.
- I’m happy. I’m happy too.
- She enjoyed the film. I enjoyed it too.
We use either after a negative verb (am not/isn’t/can’t, etc).
- I’m not happy. I’m not happy either.
- She didn’t enjoy the film. I didn’t enjoy it either.
I’m happy. I’m happy too .
I’m not hungry. I’m not hungry ______.
I’m tired. I’m tired ______.
It rained on Saturday. It rained on Sunday ______.
Ann can’t drive a car. She can’t ride a bicycle ______.
I don’t smoke. He doesn’t smoke ______.
Jane’s mother is a teacher. Her father is a teacher ______.
I don’t like cold weather. We don’t like cold weather ______.
READING I
Pre-reading questions:
1. What kind of food is popular in your country?
2. What foreign food and drinks are popular in your country?
FOOD NEAR AND FAR
Everyone loves to eat. People in every country enjoy this activity. There are so many different kinds of food in the world – there is Chinese food, Italian food, South American food, Indian food, and many others. It’s fun to eat and compare different types of cuisine. Italian food is sometimes very spicy, but South American food is usually much spicier. Indian food can be the spiciest food of all – sometimes it is so hot that it can make your mouth burn.
Some wonderful food comes from Oriental countries. Chinese food is popular in many parts of the world. Lots of people love Chinese - style vegetables because they are so crispy. Because we cook Chinese - style vegetables for a much shorter time, they are crispier than American - style vegetables.
In fact, they are probably the crispiest cooked vegetables you can find.
It is always fun to eat desserts. Desserts in Oriental countries are often less sweet than desserts in Western countries. For example, European cakes and pastries are richer and sweeter than Chinese custard or Japanese rice cake. The United States has some of the sweetest desserts you can find – apple pie with ice-cream, banana splits, and chocolate brownies, to name a few.
Some people don’t like American-style food. They think it is often less tasty and sometimes less nutritious than food in other countries. Americans eat more ‘fast food’ than people in other countries. Fast foods take a short time to prepare. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, canned and frozen food are all examples of fast foods. Often Americans feel they are too busy to spend a lot of time cooking.
Of course, in some other countries, like France, cooking is still an ‘art form’. Some people believe that French cuisine is the best in the world.
Ex. 11. Guess the meaning (a-d) of the underlined words.
1. Mexican food contains a lot of spices. North American people think it’s very hot.
a. opposite of «cold»
b. warm
c. not tasty
d. spicy
2. Oranges are sweet, but lemons are sour.
a. very sweet
b. opposite of sweet
c. tasty
d. small
3. If you eat a healthy diet, you won’t get sick very often.
a. delicious
b. hot
c. nutritious
d. rich
4. For breakfast I want fried eggs. First, break the eggs, then fry them in a hot pan.
a. broken
b. French
c. cooked in hot water
d. cooked in hot butter or oil
5. Give me a well-done steak for dinner. I don’t want it red. I want it very brown.
a. well-prepared
b. cooked for a short time
c. cooked for a long time
d. delicious
6. My friend wants a rare steak. He doesn’t want it brown. He wants it very red.